The _______ Life of Brent and Erika

Becoming "adults" has introduced Brent and me to many of the joys and pains that come with being an adult in this country. Joy: Satisfaction of working hard, and growing together. Pain: Junk mail. I hate junk mail because not only does it seem like a waste of money, resources, and trees (really, Discover card, I will CALL YOU if I want a card! Same goes for you American Express! And Chase bank!), but also because lately our junk mail seems to be advocating lifestyle changes that we're not on board with. For example, much of our junk mail seems to suggest that we don't travel enough. We should get the American Express card that gives us airline miles! Or Traveler's Advantage, that allows us to book mildly cheaper hotel rooms for monthly fee! It also suggests that we are stupid for not investing in life insurance that will pay off our mortgage if we die. But, worst of all, much of our junk mail seems to suggest that Brent should change his name, or gender. Brent goe...

Brent's website is up! Check it out! Also, I've got a link to it over yonder (on the right!), so you can check it every day to read each installment of our soap. Get excited people, we're making one of our many projects public!

I'm not at any place in my life where I feel like I need "features" or themes on my blog (maybe I'll get there someday?), but I've decided to introduce "Notes to self" as a way of writing down the random things I think to myself that I think you might enjoy. Like this one: Note to Self: It is not a good idea to try reenacting old hip hop dances while blow-drying your hair. Or this one: Note to Self: Laying on the couch and wrapping yourself in a Snuggie is not the most effective research methodology. One more: Note to Self: Holding cub scouts at your home every week is not the most effective way to introduce your dogs to children. This won't be any kind of daily thing, but I think it might be something regular. The idea of a short post that might make people laugh makes me happy. Feel free to leave your own notes in the comments!

As many of you know, Brent likes to draw. As many of you may not know, he also likes to write. Coincidentally, I also like to write. Together, we have started a few projects, and most of them are a little bit stalled (okay, we'll call them "in progress"), but this one seems to be taking off. We (okay, it's mostly Brent) are starting a one panel a day soap opera. Brent's website is under construction (I gave it to him for his birthday! Happy early birthday Brent!), and so once that's all up and beautiful it'll be posted daily, but here's a little taste of it. We'll let you know when the website's up and the show goes live! Or something...

It's hard to get back into blogging--I keep thinking of good ideas for posts, but then I think, "Wait! I haven't posted the pictures from my surgery! Or my brother's wedding! It's unacceptable to talk about something else!" So I was about to write way more, but then my crazy dog jumped on my hand because she was scared, and then it hurt, so mostly I'm sticking to things that require one hand. We use maracas because we're that authentic. Or insensitive. Or annoying. I don't remember if I posted these, but here's my brother coming home from his mission. In May. I feel like a lame-wad for not posting these sooner, but in all actuality, no one cares I'm late, right? On August 19 I had a cyst removed from my hand. We only have one picture of me in the bandages they put me in, taken by my cousin Kurt at Alex's Wedding: We called it my Mega Buster. Two weeks later, they took off the bandages. Please notice two things about this photo: 1. Not o...